Oakwood Collegiate Institute - Oracle Yearbook (Toronto Ontario, Canada)

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THE OAKWOOD ORACLE Cfxaintnation Rap tWith Apologies to William Shapespearej By CATHERINE This day is called examination day He that outlives this day and goes safe home, Will pass out when this day is named, And rouse him at the name of education. He that outlives this day and sees the morrow Will yearly on the vigil feast his chums, And say, to-morrow is examina- tion day. Then will he ope his book and show his ma1'ks, And say. These lTl211'liS I had on examination day. Some subjects men forget: Yet these shall not be forgot. And he'll remember with what ad- vantages What failures he made that day! Then shall our subjects. Familiar in their mouths as house- hold words- Physic, French, and Geometry, Be in their fertile brains freshly remembered. These subjects shall the good man teach his son. And examination day shall ne'er 30 by I ro1n this day to the ending of the world , But Physics in it shall be remem- bered, We few, we studious few, we band of brothers, For he to-day that racks his brain with me Shall be my brother: be he e'er so dumb, This day shall enlighten his dense condition And gentlemen in college, now so sad, think themselves accursed they were not he1'e. And hold their brain-power weak whiles any speaks That wrote with us on examination Shall Chemistry and Latin, days. il n jfuture In after years when I look back On these, my years in school, Will those years prove what teacher said Or am I not a fool '? I came here, and the world was mineg My thoughts I can't recall, But this I do remember- That I thought I knew it all. The days 1'olled on and proved to me I was mistaken quite. I found myself so ignorant I was a fool all right. But now I'm modest as can be, I study hard all day But first impressions cling so hard I'm still a fool, they say. Oh well, some day I'm coming back- I'll prove they were mistaken, I'll make them see I'm not a fool When I bring home the bacon. ADELAIDE E. R. STERNBERG, 3A. Page T11 irty-Th rw

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TH E OAKWOOD ORACLE Qlbe Rochester Gull! Mahal QBratiun The Youth Movement in Its Attitude to War By S. Leroy Toll One of the most striking and significant movements of the present day is what is known as the Youth Movement, and believing that I represent the spirit of the youth of to-day, Ihave decided to address you on the subject. The Youth Movement in its Attitude to War. I know you will not all agree with what I shall say, but for the moment, forget any prejudice you may have on the subject, and listen to the attitude to war from the standpoint of a boy. I may be wrong, but in my own heart I am convinced that the Youth Movement is right in its attitude to war. Three or four years ago, the Youth Movement within the colleges and universities declared itself opposed to war as a method of settling international disputes. Since that time the agitation for no more war has grown by leaps and bounds. More editorials have been written dur- ing the last year on the outlawry of war, than had ever been written be- fore. Many persons are becoming convinced that war should never be engaged in even as a last resort. Even as duelling has been superseded by an appeal to the courts, so it is suggested that war should give place to an international tribunal, a court of judges selected by the nations. The Youth Movement of to-day does not agree that the best means of preventing war is to prepare for it. Instead of preventing war, we know that preparations for war are almost sure to precipitate war. Never in history were preparations so complete or so widespread, as dur- ing the fifty or sixty years p1'evious to 1914, and yet, never were wars so frequent as in that period: France fought Italy: Germany fought in turn Denmark, Austria and France, there were the Russia-Turkey, and the Russia-Japan wars: and many wars in the Balkans: the Spanish- .-Xmerican war: wars in China: and British wars in Afghanistan, Abyssinia, Egypt, and South Africa. Think of the colossal cost of modern war both in lives and wealth. The killed and maimed in the last war were counted by millions, and the amount of wealth destroyed was no less staggering. The cost of the artillery bombardments, previous to the launching of the infantry at- tacks in the battles of Arras, Massines, and the third battle of Ypres, cost over S260,000,000. And these were only three operations in the Great War. War has become, in short, a most detestable thing. It is almost, if not quite, as disastrous to victor as to vanquished, levying its enormous toll of death upon the nations involved, and plunging their children, and their children's children, into an almost hopeless morass of debt. If another war should come, explosives will be used such as have never been imagined before. Shells will be exploded not only on the bat- tlefield or in the fortified place, but in the home cities of the people, where women and children, homes and hospitals, statesmen and paupers, will all be brought down in ruin together. Deadly poison gases will be thrown from the skies upon defenceless cities, and all life therein will be 1-Xltrmlllzlltfl. llisease germs will also be used to destroy the enemy. War will no longer be a sort of gallant adventure, but an impossible thing, too terrible for civilization to indulge in and survive. We honour those who in the wars of the past have nobly given them- selves in sacrifice, but is the youth of the world to go on, nobly sacrific- Pngr yvllllffjl-1'vll'llI'